HOMILY – SUNDAY 16 A
Living In The Reign
(Wisdom 12:13, 16-19; Psalm 86; Romans 8:24-27; Matthew 13:24-43)
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Years ago, musician Carey Landry wrote a hymn called Seek Ye First. The hymn tells us that if we seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and his righteousness, then all the other things that we need will fall into place.
Today’s readings go a step further: they invite us not only to seek first the Kingdom, but also to live in the reign of God. In addition, they also describe what that life in the Kingdom is like or could be like.
The most developed description of that Kingdom in the New Testament is from St. Paul in Romans. There, he claims that the Kingdom of God is not about eating or drinking, but all about the peace, joy and justice of the Holy Spirit. Peace and joy are gifts of the Spirit and not passing emotions. Justice is a right relationship with God, all other people, ourselves and all of God’s creation. We can expect to experience some of that peace and joy every time that we pray to our loving God.
The Gospel adds to Paul’s description of the Kingdom the dimension of the three parables today: the Kingdom of heaven is like good seed growing with weeds, so it is subtle and includes much forbearance; the Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that will grow into a large bush, so it is full of potential; the Kingdom of heaven is also like yeast which permeates all the dough, so it is also a powerful influence, yet gentle and invisible.
The first reading puts a whole new slant on our view of the kingdom, and that is the perspective of forgiveness. God gives repentance for sins to God’s people. That is because God is mildness, kindness, and acts with great forbearance, which means that God gives us all kinds of time, all the time that we need, to eventually come to the stance where we can truly repent, desire to change, and receive his forgiveness that is so freely given, unconditionally and with no strings attached.
The Psalm adds to this view that the Lord is good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love; the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, giving strength to repent to God’s servants. This is one of the most developed passages about who God is in the Old Testament, one that Jesus lives out.
The second reading then caps off this perspective by bringing in the Holy Spirit who is the agent of forgiveness, and who even intercedes for us that we might be open to the Father’s will.
The end result is that besides all that Paul and the parables teach us, the reign of God is also and perhaps above all, that experience of forgiveness of all our sins, the healing of all our shortcomings, and the ability to also forgive anyone who has hurt us in any way. To experience all this in our lives is to experience the reign of God, and to live in the reign of God, here and now.
Mother Theresa of Calcutta made a comment one day that seems to fit in here. She stated that we do not need to do great things, but rather do small things with great love.
The Eucharist can almost be seen as a parable itself. We gather together, the weeds, the wheat and the yeast, all in need of God’s mercy. We take humble, ordinary gifts of unleavened bread that is the work of human hands and wine that is fruit of the vine, and offer them to God along with our lives, ordinary as they are. All of this is transformed, by the power of that indwelling Spirit, into the Body of Christ.
So today, let us respond to the gospel call – let us strive to be righteous and live in the Kingdom of Jesus through repentance, receiving forgiveness for all our sins, and forgiving anyone who has hurt us in any way.
